Active transparent display for dynamic masking during UV curing in a three dimensional object printer

ABSTRACT

A print system and a method for curing marking material on an object using an active transparent display in a three dimensional (3D) object printer are disclosed. For example, the print system includes a plurality of printheads, a curing light source, a movable member to hold an object, an active transparent display and a controller to control movement of the movable member to move the object past the array of printheads, to operate the plurality of printheads to eject the marking material onto the object as the object passes the two-dimensional array of printheads, to control movement of the movable member, to control the active transparent display and to operate the curing light source to apply energy to cure the marking material, wherein the amount of energy that is applied to the object is controlled by a mask that is displayed on the active transparent display.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/473,144, filed Mar. 29, 2017, which was recently allowed, which isherein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present disclosure relates generally to curing systems and, moreparticularly, to an active transparent display for dynamic maskingduring UV curing in a three dimensional (3D) object printer and methodsfor using the same.

BACKGROUND

Some printers use UV curable inks to print on articles and objects. UVcurable inks are applied onto the article or object and a UV lightsource is used to cure the ink. The UV light source may be used toinitiate a photochemical reaction that generates a crosslinked networkof polymers. In other words, the ink is not simply “dried” where solventis evaporated from the ink. Rather, the UV ink is cured such that thepolymers in the UV ink undergo a chemical reaction to link or bond tothe article or object.

A curing light source may be used to apply light to cure the UV curableink. However, if the curing light source does not emit the proper amountof light, the UV curable ink may not completely cure. Uncured UV inksmay emit some volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are considered tohave a negative impact on the environment and the end user. Furthermore,if the UV ink is not completely cured, the UV ink that is printed ontothe article or object may be wiped off.

Three dimensional objects have varying slopes, angles and curvaturesthat do not provide a flat and even surface for curing. As a result,different portions of the three dimensional object may be differentdistances away from the curing light source. The different distances maycause the curing light source to cure the UV curable ink on the threedimensional object at different rates. Thus, the UV curable ink may notbe properly cured on different surfaces of the three dimensional object.

SUMMARY

According to aspects illustrated herein, there are provided a printsystem and a method for curing marking material on an object using anactive transparent display in a three dimensional (3D) object printer.One disclosed feature of the embodiments is a print system thatcomprises a plurality of printheads arranged in a two-dimensional array,wherein each one of the plurality of printheads is configured to eject amarking material, a curing light source coupled to the two-dimensionalarray of the plurality of printheads, a movable member to hold anobject, wherein the movable member is positioned parallel to a planeformed by the two-dimensional array of the plurality of printheads andthe curing light source, an active transparent display positionedparallel to the plane, wherein the active transparent display is locatedin front of the curing light source between the curing light source andthe movable member and a controller to control movement of the movablemember to move the object past the array of printheads, to operate theplurality of printheads to eject the marking material onto the object asthe object passes the two-dimensional array of printheads, to controlmovement of the movable member, to control the active transparentdisplay to display a mask that follows the object as the object movespast the active transparent display and to operate the curing lightsource to apply energy to cure the marking material, wherein the amountof energy that is applied to the object is controlled by the mask thatis displayed on the active transparent display.

Another disclosed feature of the embodiments is a method for curingmarking material on an object using an active transparent display in athree dimensional (3D) object printer. In one embodiment, the methodcomprises ejecting the marking material onto the object via atwo-dimensional array of a plurality of printheads towards a curinglight source, activating the active transparent display to display amask when an image printed on the object crosses an edge of the activetransparent display and curing the marking material on the object viathe curing light source, wherein the amount of light for curing themarking material on different locations of a surface of the object iscontrolled by the mask displayed on the active transparent display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teaching of the present disclosure can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example 3D object printer of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an active transparent display;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the active transparent display thatdisplays a mask to cure an object;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for curing markingmaterial on an object using an active transparent display in a 3D objectprinter; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a high-level block diagram of a computer suitable foruse in performing the functions described herein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure broadly discloses an apparatus and method forcuring marking material on an object using an active transparentdisplay. As discussed above, some printers use UV curable inks to printon articles and objects. UV curable inks are applied onto the article orobject and a UV light source is used to cure the ink. The UV lightsource may be used to initiate a photochemical reaction that generates acrosslinked network of polymers. In other words, the ink is not simply“dried” where solvent is evaporated from the ink. Rather, the UV ink iscured such that the polymers in the UV ink undergo a chemical reactionto link or bond to the article or object.

A curing light source may be used to applying light to cure the UVcurable ink. However, if curing light source malfunctions or does notemit the proper amount of light, the UV curable ink may not completelycure. Uncured UV inks may emit some volatile organic compounds (VOCs).VOCs are considered to have a negative impact on the environment and theend user. Furthermore, if the UV ink is not completely cured, the UV inkthat is printed onto the article or object may be wiped off.

Three dimensional objects have varying slopes, angles and curvaturesthat do not provide a flat and even surface for curing. As a result,different portions of the three dimensional object may be differentdistances away from the curing light source. The different distances maycause the curing light source to cure the UV curable ink on the threedimensional object at different rates. Thus, the UV curable ink may notbe properly cured on different surfaces of the three dimensional object.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a novel apparatus andmethod that control the amount of light from a curing light source thatcontacts a surface of an object to cure marking material on the surfaceof the object. For example, marking material that is on surfaces thatare closer to the curing light source may require less light to curethan marking material that is on surfaces that are father away from thecuring light source. The embodiments of the present disclosure providean active transparent display that can be used in the 3D object printerthat may control the amount of light that reaches surfaces of the objectthat are at different distances away from the curing light source. As aresult, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide more controlof the curing process and more consistent curing over all surfaces ofthe object that have the marking material.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary printing system 100 configured to printon an object 122. The object 122 may be a three dimensional (3D) objectthat has an irregular shape. For example, the object 122 may have one ormore different curved surfaces with different amounts of curvature. Saidanother way, the object 122 may not have a flat surface.

In one embodiment, the printing system 100 includes an array, or aplurality, of printheads 104, a support member 108, a member 112 movablymounted to the support member 108, an actuator 116 operatively connectedto the movably mounted member 112, an object holder 120 configured tomount to the movably mounted member 112 and a controller 124 operativelyconnected to the plurality of printheads and the actuator. As shown inFIG. 1, the array of printheads 104 is arranged in a two-dimensionalarray, which in the figure is a 10×1 array, although other arrayconfigurations can be used. Each printhead is fluidly connected to asupply of marking material (not shown) and is configured to ejectmarking material received from the supply. Some of the printheads can beconnected to the same supply or each printhead can be connected to itsown supply so each printhead can eject a different marking material.

In one embodiment, the marking material may be an ultra violet (UV) ink.The marking material may be cured by a curing light source 106. Thecuring light source 106 may be positioned to cure the marking materialafter the marking material is ejected by the array of printheads 104.For example, the curing light source 106 may be positioned verticallyabove or below the array of printheads 104 depending on which directionprinting occurs along the support member 108. Said another way, thecuring light source 106 may be stacked above or below the array ofprintheads 104 along a plane formed by the array of printheads 104.

In one embodiment, the controller 124 may also be operatively coupled tothe curing light source 106 to control an amount and a duration of lightapplied to the marking material for curing. In other words, the curinglight source 106 may be used to initiate a photochemical reaction thatgenerates a crosslinked network of polymers. In other words, the ink isnot simply “dried” where solvent is evaporated from the ink. Rather, themarking material (e.g., the UV ink) is cured such that the polymers inthe marking material undergo a chemical reaction to link or bond to theobject 122.

In one embodiment, the curing light source 106 may include a twodimensional array of light emitting diodes (LEDs) 130. The LEDs 130 maybe UV emitting LEDs that can cure the marking material. Each one of theLEDs 130 may be independently addressable. In other words, theluminosity or light intensity of each LED 130 within the two dimensionalarray of LEDs 130 may be controlled independent of the other LEDs 130.

In one embodiment, the print system may include an active transparentdisplay 102 that is located in front of the curing light source 106 andbetween the curing light source 106 and the movably mounted member 112.The active transparent display 102 may be secured or in a fixedposition. The active transparent display 102 may be located between theobject 122 and the curing light source 130 such that light emitted fromthe LEDs 130 may go through the active transparent display 102 and thencontact the surface of the object 122.

In one embodiment, the active transparent display 102 may be coupled toa frame or a housing of the print system 100. It should be noted thatFIG. 1 illustrates a simplified cross-sectional view of the print system100. Thus, the frame or housing that the active transparent display 102would be mounted to is not shown.

In one embodiment, the active transparent display 102 may be opticallyclear to allow a user to see through the active transparent display 102when none of the pixels are active. When pixels are activated, theimages can be formed on portions of the active transparent display 102.Depending on a color that is displayed (e.g., different gray scalelevels or colors), the level of opaqueness can be controlled from beingoptically clear to completely opaque and different levels of opaquenessin between.

In one embodiment, the active transparent display 102 may be a liquidcrystal display (LCD) or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.For example, the LCD may modulate ambient light that passes through thedisplay. The OLED display may comprise an emissive and conductive layer.Electrical impulses may travel through the conductive layer and producelight at the emissive layer. The OLED display may produce their ownlight and provide more design flexibility.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the active transparent display 102. Inone embodiment, the active transparent display 102 may generate anddisplay a mask 206. In one embodiment, the mask 206 may be acomplementary image of an image 208 printed on the object 122 via themarking material. For example, the complementary image of the image 208may be completely opaque, or activate a pixel to have a black color, infront of surfaces of the object 122 that have no marking material. Inaddition, the complementary image of the image 208 may have a varyingdegree of opaqueness created by activated pixels in the activetransparent display 102 in front of surfaces of the object 122 that havemarking material.

In one embodiment, the level of opaqueness may be a function of adistance between the curing light source 106 and a location of thesurface in front of the curing light source 106. For example, a portion,or a pixel, of the active transparent display 102 that is in front ofthe surface that is furthest away from the curing light source 106 maybe deactivated to be optically clear to allow more light to pass throughto cure the marking material. As the surfaces are closer to the curinglight source 106 the pixels of the active transparent display may beactivated to have a gray scale value that is gradually darker to allowless light to pass through to cure the marking material.

In one embodiment, a plurality of different gray values may be used tocontrol a level of opaqueness of a single pixel within the activetransparent display 102. In one embodiment, different colors may be usedto control a level of opaqueness of a single pixel within the activetransparent display 102.

In one embodiment, the mask 206 may follow the image 208 as the object122 moves past the curing light source 106 and the active transparentdisplay 102. For example, if the object 122 is moving from a bottom edge202 to a top edge 204, the mask 206 may be generated and displayed assoon as the image 208 crosses the bottom edge 202 of the activetransparent display 102. In other words, when a first portion of theimage 208 crosses the bottom edge 202, the corresponding portion of themask 206 may be generated and displayed near the bottom edge 202 of theactive transparent display 102.

In one embodiment, the mask 206 may mirror the movement of the image208. For example, the mask 206 may move in a same direction as the image208 and at a same velocity as the image 208 is moving. The mask 206 maymirror the movement of the image 208 when the size of the curing lightsource 206 is at least as large as the size of the active transparentdisplay 102.

In another embodiment, the mask 206 may follow the image 208 at a slightoffset to compensate for the angle of the image 208 relative to a centerof the curing light source 106. When the mask 206 follows the image 208at a slight offset, the mask may move at a different velocity than thevelocity that the image 208 is moving.

Referring back to the slight offset, in one embodiment, the curing lightsource 106 may be smaller than the active transparent display 102. As aresult, light emitted at extreme angles may contact the image 208. Theimage 208 may appear distorted or stretched at these extreme angles. Forexample, as flat images are moved to greater angles, the images bestretched so that they appear normal to a reader. One example, may beroad signs printed on a road that appear to be a normal size, but areactually printed in a stretched or elongated fashion.

In one embodiment, the mask 206 may apply an amount of distortion to thecomplementary image of the mask 206 that is equal to the amount ofdistortion that appears in the image 208 at a particular angle relativeto a normal view or center of curing light source 106. For example, whenthe image 208 is at a minimum distance from the curing light source 106(e.g., directly in front of the curing light source 106) no distortionmay be applied. However, as the distance of the image 208 increases fromthe center of the curing light source 106, the amount of distortion thatis applied may be gradually increased. Similarly, as the distance of theimage 208 decreases from the center of the curing light source 106, theamount of distortion that is applied may be gradually decreased.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the active transparent display 102 thatdisplays the mask 206 at an offset to the image 208 to cure the markingmaterial used to print the image 208 on the object 122 as the object 122passes the curing light source 106. At block 302, the image 208 hascrossed the bottom edge 202 of the active transparent display 102. Themask 206 may be displayed offset from the image 208.

In one embodiment, the complementary image displayed by the mask 206 maybe distorted to compensate for the angle of the image relative to acenter of the curing light source 106. For example, the image 208 mayappear more stretched when looking downward in a direction as shown byan arrow 314 due to the angle relative to a normal, direct orperpendicular view as shown by an arrow 312. As a result, the mask 206may display text or other portions of the complementary image with adistortion. As a result, the light emitted from the LEDs 130 of thecuring light source 106 may accurately cure the marking material thatforms the image 208 as the object 122 is moving vertically upwardstowards the top edge 204 of the active transparent display 103. As theobject 122 and the image 208 move closer to a minimum distance betweenthe image 208 and a center of the curing light source 106, the amount ofdistortion may be gradually reduced.

At block 304, the image 208 is at the minimum distance from the centerof the curing light source 106. In other words, a center of the image208 is perpendicular to the line 312, which represents the normal,direct or perpendicular view. As a result, the distortion may be removedfrom the mask 206 and the mask 206 may be a mirror image of the image208. The mask 206 may be positioned directly in front of the image 208between the image 208 and the curing light source 106.

At block 306, the object 122 is moving past the curing light source 106towards the top edge 204. As the image 208 moves away from the minimumdistance from the center of the curing light source 106, the mask 206may be positioned offset to the image 208. In addition, the amount ofdistortion applied to the mask 206 may be gradually increased againuntil the image 208 moves past the top edge 204. For example, the image208 may appear to be stretched when looking upward in a direction asshown by an arrow 318 due to an angle relative to the normal view asshown by the arrow 312. The distortion may help to compensate for thestretched view of the image 208 to allow the light emitted from the LEDs130 of the curing light source 106 to contact the correct portions ofthe surface of the object 122 having the marking material that forms theimage 208.

In one embodiment, as the object 122 is moving past the curing lightsource 106, the operation of the LEDs 130 may be controlled by thecontroller 124 to prevent over heating the active transparent display130. For example, Any LEDs 130 of the curing light source 106 that arenot in front of a location on the surface of the object the contains anyportion of the image 208 may not be activated. In another example, theLEDs 130 may be operated at a particular frequency. For example, theLEDs 130 may be turned on and off to prevent a constant amount of energybe applied through the active transparent display 102 and heat beingaccumulated in the active transparent display 102. In another example,the LEDs 130 that are in front of a fully activated black pixel of theactive transparent display 102 may be deactivated. As a result, thecuring light source 106 may be operated in a manner that does not overheat the active transparent display 102 that may lead to failure of theactive transparent display 102.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the printing system 100 may include an opticalsensor 110. The optical sensor 110 may be a scanner to scan a stockkeeping unit (SKU), a barcode, or any other machine readable mark on theobject 122. The SKU may provide information to the controller 124 withregards to image data that describes the image 208. The controller 124may use the image data to then generate and display the mask 206 on theactive transparent display 102.

In one embodiment, the optical sensor 110 may be used to scan the image208. For example, the optical sensor 110 may scan the image 208 andtransmit the scanned image data to the controller 124.

In one embodiment, the controller 124 may also be operatively coupled toan interface 160. The interface 160 may include a display 162, anannunciator 164 and an input device 168, such as a keypad. The interface160 may be used to by an operator to provide image data to thecontroller 124. In one embodiment, the SKU of the object 122 thatcontains the image data may be entered by an operator via the inputdevice 168 of the interface 160 instead of being scanned by the opticalsensor 110.

In one embodiment, the support member 108 is positioned to be parallelto the plane formed by the array of printheads and, as shown in FIG. 1,is oriented so one end of the support member 108 is at a highergravitational potential than the other end of the support member 108.This orientation enables the printing system 100 to have a smallerfootprint than an alternative embodiment that horizontally orients thetwo-dimensional array of printheads and configures the support member,the member, and the object holder to enable the object holder to passobjects past the horizontally arranged printheads so the printheads caneject marking material downwardly on the objects.

The member 112 is movably mounted to the support member 108 to enablethe member to slide along the support member 108. In some embodiments,the member 112 can move bi-directionally along the support member 108.In other embodiments, the support member 108 is configured to provide areturn path to the lower end of the support member 108 to form a trackfor the member 112. The actuator 116 is operatively connected to themember 112 so that the actuator 116 can move the member 112 along thesupport member 108 and enable the object holder 120 connected to themember 112 to pass the two-dimensional array of the plurality ofprintheads 104 in one dimension of the two-dimensional array ofprintheads 104.

In the embodiment, the object holder 120 moves the object 122 along alength dimension of the array of printheads 104. The object holder 120may have different shapes and sizes depending on a shape and size of theobject 122. For example, different object holders 120 may be coupled tothe member 112 for different objects 122. The object holder 120 may becustom built for each different type of object 122 that is used in theprinting system 100.

As noted above, the printing system 100 may include the optical sensor110. The optical sensor 110 may scan the SKU on the object 122 toprovide additional information to the controller 124. For example, theSKU may also provide information such as how to control the array ofprintheads 104 to print an image onto the surface of the object 122. Forexample, different shaped objects 122 may have different printingprofiles that may be included into the SKU.

In one embodiment, the optical sensor 110 may be a scanner that can scanthe object 122 to determine a profile of the object 122. For example,the printing system 100 may determine a printing profile on-the-flyusing the optical sensor 110. The surface profile scanned by the opticalsensor 110 may be transmitted to the controller 124. The controller 124may then calculate a sequence of operation of the printheads of thearray of printheads 104 and an amount of marking material to eject fromeach printhead.

In one embodiment, the controller 124 is configured with programmedinstructions stored in a memory 128 operatively connected to thecontroller so the controller can execute the programmed instructions tooperate components in the printing system 100. Thus, the controller 124is configured to operate the actuator 116 to move the object holder 120past the array of printheads 104 and to operate the array of printheads104 to eject marking material onto the object 122 held by the objectholder 120 as the object holder 120 passes the array of printheads 104.

In one embodiment, the interface 160 may also be used to notify anoperator if a printing program for a particular SKU is not available,display error messages, completion messages, and the like, on thedisplay 162. The annunciator 164 may provide a warning light or anaudible alarm to attract attention to messages on the display 162 or toindicate an error has occurred.

Additionally, the controller 124 is configured to operate the inkjetswithin the printheads of the array of printheads 104 so they eject dropswith larger masses than the masses of drops ejected from suchprintheads. In one embodiment, the controller 124 operates the inkjetsin the printheads of the array of printheads 104 with firing signalwaveforms that enable the inkjets to eject drops that produce drops onsurfaces of the object 122 having a diameter of about seven to about tenmillimeters (mm). This drop size is appreciably larger than the dropsthat produced drops on the material receiving surface having a mass ofabout 21 nanograms (ng).

It should be noted that the orientation of the components of theprinting system 100 is provided as an example. For example, FIG. 1illustrates the printing process moved vertically upwards from thebottom of the page towards the top of the page. However, it should benoted that the components may be flipped such that the printing processmay move vertically downwards from the top of the page to the bottom ofthe page.

The system configuration shown in FIG. 1 is especially advantageous in anumber of aspects. For one, as noted above, the vertical configurationof the array of printheads 104 and the support member 108 enables theprinting system 100 to have a smaller footprint than a system configuredwith a horizontal orientation of the array and support member. Thissmaller footprint of the printing system 100 enables the printing system100 to be housed in a single cabinet and installed in non-productionoutlets. Once installed, various object holders can be used with thesystem to print a variety of goods that are generic in appearance untilprinted.

Another advantageous aspect of the printing system 100 shown in FIG. 1is the gap presented between the objects 122 carried by the objectholder 120 and the printheads of the array of printheads 104. The gap inthis embodiment is in a range of about five to about six mm. Heretofore,the gap was maintained in a range centered about 1 mm. This smaller gapwas thought to ensure a more accurate placement of drops from anejecting printhead. It has been discovered that the greater gap widthreduces the effect of laminar air flow in the gap between the printheadsand the surface receiving the marking material drops so the accuracy ofdrop placement, especially for larger 3D objects, is maintained. Thiseffect is particularly effective with the larger drop sizes notedpreviously. Without the turbulence produced by the movement of an objectin close proximity to a printhead, the momentum of the ejected drops isadequate to keep the drops on their projected course so the registrationof the drops from different printheads can be preserved for maintainingimage quality. Additionally, the controller 124 can be configured withprogrammed instructions to operate the actuator 116 to move the objectholder 120 at speeds that attenuate the air turbulence in the larger gapbetween the printhead and the surface of the object 122 used in theprinting system 100.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 for curingmarking material on an object using an active transparent display in athree dimensional (3D) object printer. In one embodiment, one or moresteps or operations of the method 400 may be performed by the printingsystem 100 or a computer that controls operation of the printing system100 as illustrated in FIG. 5 and discussed below.

At block 402, the method 400 begins. At block 404, the method 400 ejectsmarking material onto an object via a two-dimensional array of aplurality of printheads. For example, the object may be moved verticallyup and down along a support member via a movable member and objectholder. The printheads may have different colors. The object may bemoved in front of the printheads to receive the marking material that isejected from the printheads to form an image according to a printingprocess or program that is executed by the controller.

At block 406, the method 400 moves a movable member holding the objectvertically parallel to a plane formed by the two-dimensional array ofthe plurality of printheads. After the printing on the object iscompleted, the object may be moved to a curing station to cure themarking material. In one embodiment, the plane may be an imaginarysurface to which each one of the plurality of printheads may be aligned.The object may move parallel to this plane vertically up and down.

At block 408, the method 400 activates an active transparent display todisplay a mask when an image printed on the object crosses an edge ofthe active transparent display. For example, the mask may be acomplementary image of the image that is printed onto the surface of theobject. The mask may control an amount of light emitted from the curinglight source that contacts the surface of the object that has receivedthe marking material.

The complementary image (e.g., the image used as the mask) may use darkcolored, or black colored pixels, in the active transparent display toblock light from contact a corresponding surface that does not have anymarking material. The complementary image may deactivate pixels thatcorrespond to locations of a surface that have marking material and arefurthest away from the curing light source.

The complementary image may use different shades of gray pixels ordifferent colored pixels to control the amount of light that reachesdifferent surfaces of the object that have marking material that aredifferent distances away from the curing light source. For example,surfaces are closer to the curing light source may use darker shades ofgray or darker colors to block more light and surfaces that are fatheraway from the curing light source may use lighter shades of gray orlighter colors to block less light.

In one embodiment, the active transparent display may be activated tomove the mask in a same direction and at a same velocity that the imageprinted on the object moves. In one embodiment, the mask may move at thesame velocity that the image printed on the object moves when the maskmoves as a mirror image of the image printed on the object.

In another embodiment, the mask may be moved with an offset to the imageprinted on the object. When the mask is moved with an offset to theimage printed on the object, the mask may move at a different velocitythan the velocity at which the image printed on the object is moving. Inone embodiment, a distortion may be applied to the mask when the mask isoffset from the image printed on the object. The amount of distortionthat is applied may be a function of a distance that the image is from aminimum distance from a center of the curing light source. The amount ofdistortion may be greatest when the image that is printed on the objectis furthest away from the minimum distance. The amount of distortion maybe gradually decreased as the image that is printed on the object movescloser to the minimum distance from the center of the curing lightsource.

In one embodiment, the mask may be generated based on image data that isprovided to the controller. In one embodiment, the image data may beobtained from scanning a SKU number on the object. In one embodiment,the image data may be obtained by scanning the image via an opticalscanner. In one embodiment, the image data may be entered manually viaan interface of the print system.

At block 410, the method 400 cures the marking material on the objectvia the curing light source, wherein the amount of light for curing themarking material on different locations of a surface of the object iscontrolled by the mask displayed on the active transparent display. Forexample, the light emitted by the LEDs of the curing light source may becontrolled by the various activated or deactivated pixels of the activetransparent display that generate the mask. At block 412, the method 400ends.

It should be noted that the blocks in FIG. 4 that recite a determiningoperation or involve a decision do not necessarily require that bothbranches of the determining operation be practiced. In other words, oneof the branches of the determining operation can be deemed as anoptional step. In addition, one or more steps, blocks, functions oroperations of the above described method 400 may comprise optionalsteps, or can be combined, separated, and/or performed in a differentorder from that described above, without departing from the exampleembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts a high-level block diagram of a computer that isdedicated to perform the functions described herein. As depicted in FIG.5, the computer 500 comprises one or more hardware processor elements502 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or amulti-core processor), a memory 504, e.g., random access memory (RAM)and/or read only memory (ROM), a module 505 for curing marking materialon an object using an active transparent display in a three dimensional(3D) object printer, and various input/output devices 506 (e.g., storagedevices, including but not limited to, a tape drive, a floppy drive, ahard disk drive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, a transmitter, aspeaker, a display, a speech synthesizer, an output port, an input portand a user input device (such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, amicrophone and the like)). Although only one processor element is shown,it should be noted that the computer may employ a plurality of processorelements. Furthermore, although only one computer is shown in thefigure, if the method(s) as discussed above is implemented in adistributed or parallel manner for a particular illustrative example,i.e., the steps of the above method(s) or the entire method(s) areimplemented across multiple or parallel computers, then the computer ofthis figure is intended to represent each of those multiple computers.Furthermore, one or more hardware processors can be utilized insupporting a virtualized or shared computing environment. Thevirtualized computing environment may support one or more virtualmachines representing computers, servers, or other computing devices. Insuch virtualized virtual machines, hardware components such as hardwareprocessors and computer-readable storage devices may be virtualized orlogically represented.

It should be noted that the present disclosure can be implemented insoftware and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., usingapplication specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable logicarray (PLA), including a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or astate machine deployed on a hardware device, a computer or any otherhardware equivalents, e.g., computer readable instructions pertaining tothe method(s) discussed above can be used to configure a hardwareprocessor to perform the steps, functions and/or operations of the abovedisclosed methods. In one embodiment, instructions and data for thepresent module or process 505 for curing marking material on an objectusing an active transparent display in a three dimensional (3D) objectprinter (e.g., a software program comprising computer-executableinstructions) can be loaded into memory 504 and executed by hardwareprocessor element 502 to implement the steps, functions or operations asdiscussed above in connection with the example method 400. Furthermore,when a hardware processor executes instructions to perform “operations,”this could include the hardware processor performing the operationsdirectly and/or facilitating, directing, or cooperating with anotherhardware device or component (e.g., a co-processor and the like) toperform the operations.

The processor executing the computer readable or software instructionsrelating to the above described method(s) can be perceived as aprogrammed processor or a specialized processor. As such, the presentmodule 505 for curing marking material on an object using an activetransparent display in a three dimensional (3D) object printer(including associated data structures) of the present disclosure can bestored on a tangible or physical (broadly non-transitory)computer-readable storage device or medium, e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, ROM memory, RAM memory, magnetic or optical drive,device or diskette and the like. More specifically, thecomputer-readable storage device may comprise any physical devices thatprovide the ability to store information such as data and/orinstructions to be accessed by a processor or a computing device such asa computer or an application server.

It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined intomany other different systems or applications. Various presentlyunforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, orimprovements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in theart which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for curing marking material on an objectusing an active transparent display in a three dimensional (3D) objectprinter, comprising: ejecting the marking material onto the object via atwo-dimensional array of a plurality of printheads; moving a movablemember holding the object vertically parallel to a plane formed by thetwo-dimensional array of the plurality of printheads towards a curinglight source; activating the active transparent display to display amask when an image printed on the object crosses an edge of the activetransparent display, wherein the activating the active transparentdisplay to display the mask comprises: generating a complementary imageof the image that is printed on the object via the marking material;moving the mask along the active transparent display to mirror amovement of the image as the image moves past the active transparentdisplay; and curing the marking material on the object via the curinglight source, wherein an amount of light for curing the marking materialon different locations of a surface of the object is controlled by themask displayed on the active transparent display.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein the generating the complementary image, comprises:identifying respective distances between different locations on thesurface of the object from the curing light source; displaying a blackpixel in front of one or more of the different locations that areclosest to the curing light source; leaving a deactivated pixel in frontof a second one or more of the different locations that are furthestfrom the curing light source; and selecting a gray scale pixel valuethat correspond to the respective distances of all remaining locationsof the different locations.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theactivating the active transparent display to display the mask,comprises: applying a distortion to the mask when the image that isprinted on the object is located at a distance that is greater than aminimum distance from a center of the curing light source.
 4. The methodof claim 3, wherein an amount of distortion that is applied is reducedas the object moves closer to the minimum distance from the center ofthe curing light source.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the amount ofdistortion that is applied is increased as the object moves past theminimum distance from the center of the curing light source and furtheraway from the minimum distance from the center of the curing lightsource.
 6. A method for curing marking material on an object using anactive transparent display in a three dimensional (3D) object printer,comprising: ejecting the marking material onto the object via atwo-dimensional array of a plurality of printheads; moving a movablemember holding the object vertically parallel to a plane formed by thetwo-dimensional array of the plurality of printheads towards a curinglight source; activating the active transparent display to display amask when an image printed on the object crosses an edge of the activetransparent display, wherein the activating the active transparentdisplay to display the mask, comprises: generating a complementary imageof the image that is printed on the object via the marking material,wherein the generating the complementary image, comprises: identifyingrespective distances between different locations on the surface of theobject from the curing light source; displaying a black pixel in frontof one or more of the different locations that are closest to the curinglight source; leaving a deactivated pixel in front of a second one ormore of the different locations that are furthest from the curing lightsource; and selecting a gray scale pixel value that correspond to therespective distances of all remaining locations of the differentlocations; and curing the marking material on the object via the curinglight source, wherein the amount of light for curing the markingmaterial on different locations of a surface of the object is controlledby the mask displayed on the active transparent display.
 7. The methodof claim 6, wherein the activating the active transparent display todisplay the mask, comprises: applying a distortion to the mask when theimage that is printed on the object is located at a distance that isgreater than a minimum distance from a center of the curing lightsource.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein an amount of distortion thatis applied is reduced as the object moves closer to the minimum distancefrom the center of the curing light source.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the amount of distortion that is applied is increased as theobject moves past the minimum distance from the center of the curinglight source and further away from the minimum distance from the centerof the curing light source.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein theactivating the active transparent display to display the mask,comprises: moving the mask along the active transparent display in asame direction as the object.
 11. The method of claim 6, wherein theactivating the active transparent display to display the mask,comprises: moving the mask at a same velocity along the activetransparent display as the object is moving past the curing light sourcewhen the mask is a mirror image of the image printed on the object ormoving the mask at a different velocity along the active transparentdisplay as the object is moving past the curing light source when themask is offset to the image printed on the object.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising: providing image data associated with theimage printed on the object via the marking material to a controller,wherein the mask is activated on the active transparent display based onthe image data by the controller.
 13. A method for curing markingmaterial on an object using an active transparent display in a threedimensional (3D) object printer, comprising: ejecting the markingmaterial onto the object via a two-dimensional array of a plurality ofprintheads; moving a movable member holding the object verticallyparallel to a plane formed by the two-dimensional array of the pluralityof printheads towards a curing light source; activating the activetransparent display to display a mask when an image printed on theobject crosses an edge of the active transparent display, wherein theactivating the active transparent display to display the mask comprises:identifying portions of a surface of the object that do not have themarking material; and activating pixels that correspond to the portionsof the surface of the object that do not have the marking material tohave a black color; and curing the marking material on the object viathe curing light source, wherein an amount of light for curing themarking material on different locations of a surface of the object iscontrolled by the mask displayed on the active transparent display. 14.The method of claim 13, wherein the activating the active transparentdisplay to display the mask, comprises: adjusting an amount ofdistortion that is applied to the mask as the object moves past theactive transparent display.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein theamount of distortion is increased as the object moves away from a centerof the curing light source.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein anamount of distortion that is applied is reduced as the object movestowards the center of the curing light source.
 17. The method of claim13, wherein the activating the active transparent display to display themask, comprises: moving the mask along the active transparent display ina same direction as the object as the object moves in front of theactive transparent display.
 18. The method of claim 13, wherein theactivating the active transparent display to display the mask,comprises: moving the mask at a same velocity along the activetransparent display as the object is moving past the curing light sourcewhen the mask is a mirror image of the image printed on the object ormoving the mask at a different velocity along the active transparentdisplay as the object is moving past the curing light source when themask is offset to the image printed on the object.